Metastatic Breast Cancer

Metastatic breast cancer occurs when breast cancer cells travel from the breast to another part of the body such as the bones, liver, lungs, or brain. Metastatic breast cancer is also referred to as Stage IV breast cancer.
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With the start of a New Year, as well as pivotal changes in SHARE'S leadership on the way, we - the staff - have been evaluating our programs, tightening our budgets, reshaping old goals and creating new ones. We are, in essence, making our professional resolutions for the New Year. Thinking about my own personal resolutions as well as the resolutions of  women living with metastatic breast cancer,  I began a thoroughly unscientific quest for information about the personal resolutions of those living with MBC as well as the origin of New Year Resolutions themselves.  Here's what I found out:
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Musa Mayer participated in the First International Consensus on Metastatic Breast Cancer, held in Lisbon, Portugal in fall 2011. Watch this video to learn why this meeting was so important.
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As we look ahead to 2012, goal-setting is one of the best ways to stay motivated to exercise and get the results you want.  Experts in the field of self-improvement often recommend the SMART system of goal-setting, which states that goals must be Specific, Measurable, Action-oriented, Realistic and Timed. Let's take the goal of losing weight and put it through this method.
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Thoughts from a first timer...

"For thirty-four years, the symposium's mission has been to provide state-of-the-art information on breast cancer research. From a one-day regional conference the symposium has grown to a five-day program attended by a broad international audience of academic and private researchers and physicians from over 90 countries. The symposium aims to achieve a balance of clinical, translational, and basic research, providing a forum for interaction, communication, and education for a broad spectrum of researchers, health professionals, and those with a special interest in breast cancer."
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I was invited by Novartis Oncology, creator of Femara and other drugs to treat breast cancer, to participate on an advisory board with other patient advocates at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. . . .
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Several SHARE volunteers, support group participants and I attended the MBCN annual conference in Baltimore, MD last month.  The conference sponsored by MBCN and  Johns Hopkins and provided a full day of programming, much of it relating directly to metastatic breast cancer.  Many of the sessions presented will be available on line at the MBCN website:  Mbcnetwork.org later this month.  One break out session I attended is described below.  A few of our volunteers have had this type of treatment.  If you have any questions, feel free to call me or the hotline, and we will be happy to connect you with someone who has been there...
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As the engine that propels your cardiovascular system, your heart's ability to pump blood to your lungs determines your vitality and capacity for life. Cardiovascular fitness is one of the most important indicators of health and longevity in humans. While cancer treatments can significantly alter your cardio function and your fitness level, the goal is to recover pre-cancer conditioning and even increase it.
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Many online resources exist for women and their families living with metastatic breast cancer. They include:
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SHARE brings women living with metastatic breast cancer together to support one another and to provide advice and assistance to others dealing with this disease.
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This series, sponsored by SHARE in collaboration with Young Survival Coalition NYC is designed to empower young women affected by breast cancer to take charge of their health, get informed and live well. See videos of selected programs.
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This October, SHARE recognizes both Breast Cancer Awareness Month and 35 years of supporting women affected by breast cancer. In honor of these dual commemorations, we interviewed Dr. Larry Norton, Deputy Physician-in-Chief for Breast Cancer Programs at Memorial Sloan-Kettering, about how breast cancer treatment has changed in the past 35 years.
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SHARE is helping to recruit volunteers to join the Love/Avon Army of Women (www.armyofwomen.org) and help move breast cancer beyond a cure. 
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Hearing the words "you have cancer" is devastating.  Hearing the words "your cancer has returned" or "your cancer has already spread",  is beyond imaginable to most.  It is what every woman initially diagnosed with breast cancer fears.  Once diagnosed with metastatic disease, you become part of a whole new group. A group that is often feared, ignored and marginalized.  Women living with metastatic disease are no longer considered Breast Cancer "Survivors" as their treatment will go on and on.  As a result, there is no "Pink" community of support behind them, little awareness of advanced disease, and fear.  Not only do you contend with your own fear of having metastatic cancer, but also the fear of your family, friends, neighbors and other women with breast cancer.  It's a lonely and scary place to be.   
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About the only good thing breast cancer has given me is the friendship of a few good women. But what breast cancer gives, it also takes away. Not everyone survives.
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Remember the movie "Norma Rae"? Sally Fields played a feisty young mill worker whose courageous fight led to the unionization of a notorious anti-union employer in North Carolina.
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You're walking down the street, you look pretty hot (and not because the sun is out!). You look healthy even though you're just coming back from a doctor's appointment where you've been told that the last PetCT scan showed progression and that you will be changing chemos . . .
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"Breast cancer is not pretty, pink, sexy, only for older women, the 'good' kind of cancer, fun, cured with a positive attitude, only for October." So says a T-shirt that's popular on the message board bcmets.org.
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The holidays are always a joyful and stressful time of year. Being metastatic and dealing with family and friends complicates things.
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Good news for women with metastatic breast cancer! On January 29^th the FDA approved a new drug option for HER2+ metastatic women: Tykerb in combination with Femara.
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To hear the pharmaceutical companies tell it, you would think that metastatic women are just NOT enrolling in their clinical trials. Dig a little deeper and you discover that more often than not, they are being turned away.
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It's October. And for women living with metastatic breast cancer, it's hard to get their voices heard over the onslaught of pink celebrations. I asked our metastatic hotline volunteers for their take on the reality of living with metastatic disease. Here's one contribution, anonymously:
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Living with metastatic breast cancer is "not a pink-ribbon life," as The New York Times wrote in an excellent article, "A Pink-Ribbon Race, Years Long."
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